Just after a couple of weeks from its international launch, Samsung has taken the wrap of Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 plus in Nepal. The flagships from Samsung comes with a reimagined camera and beefy internals, albeit a resemblance to last year’s Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus.
The display size and form factor are somewhat similar to its predecessor — i.e. 5.8-inch for the S9 and 6.2-inch for the S9 Plus — though, the foot-print has decreased a little bit, allowing the phone to be used comfortably with one hand. The sigh of relief for users with small hands is that the fingerprint scanner has been shifted just below the camera. Both the Galaxy S8 and Note 8 had a fingerprint scanner in an awkward position — at the side of the camera.
The Super AMOLED Infinity display present on the both S9 and S9 Plus is as bright as it gets. Both phones emit a brightness level of 700 nits. It’s a significant upgrade to last year’s S8, which had 600 nits of brightness.
The audio experience on the past Galaxy devices has been nothing sort of amazing and we are all known to this. This time Samsung has sorted it out with the pair of AKG tuned stereo speakers which is 1.4 times louder than the normal speakers. The speakers are now Dolby supported with the addition of Atoms codec for an immersive audio experience.
Now let’s talk about the crown jewel of both phones — the camera. While last year’s S8 duos were nothing short of amazing features, the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus has a reimagined camera.
The Galaxy S9 has a similar 12MP super speed dual pixel sensor found on the S8. However, the S9 Plus has a dual-camera setup at the rear. It’s similar to found in the Galaxy Note 8 with a 12MP telephoto lens with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) and f/2.4 aperture. Nonetheless, both handsets have an 8MP front-facing camera with a f/1.7 aperture capable of shooting bright selfies even in low-lighting conditions.
“Galaxy S9 and S9+ are smartphones in a class entirely of their own. With the camera reimagined, now consumers can shoot photos and videos like they can’t with any other smartphone. With cool features like Super Slow-mo and AR Emoji, consumers can express themselves in a way that’s unique and personal to them.”
– Mr. Pranaya Ratna Sthapit, Head of Mobile Business, Samsung.
The S8 camera was astoundingly good but lacked in some low-lighting conditions. However, it looks like its a thing of past now. The Galaxy S9 is embedded with a mechanical aperture which opens and closes according to the surrounding. It will use a f/2.4 aperture in bright lighting conditions, whereas a wider f/1.5 aperture will be used in low-lighting situations. This allows the phone to absorb 28 percent more light than the S8.
Likewise, Samsung, this time has upped their game in terms of video shooting capability. The Galaxy S9 is now capable of recording slow-mo videos at a ridiculous 960 fps as opposed to the Galaxy S8’s 240 fps at 720p. Though it has been done before, the slow-mo game will definitely make other companies think about if they should follow the similar footstep.
The phone’s front camera is not only used to take selfies but also make the AR Emojis; much like Apple’s Animojis. With the help of the front camera, the phone captures your face and analyzes it to mimic either life-like version or a cartoon-like version of you. The software also allows you to change your skin tone, hair color, and add items like glasses or clothes. However, the one found inside is not up to the par and cannot capture as many expression as the iPhone X can.
Despite the slack Samsung has been receiving for Bixby, they have made a ton of customization. The changes cast a bright light to Samsung’s work on generalizing AIs on smartphones. Bixby now can visualize the food and provide users with its nutritional information. Contradictory, it also lets users try different makeup from Sephora and CoverGirl with an option to buy it directly from Bixby. Aside from the personal assistant, Samsung’s DeX is also present on the phone. It allows users to turn the Galaxy S9 into a mini computer. However, this is to be done through a separate dock.
Fingerprint aside, the Galaxy S9 comes with Intelligent Scan — Samsung’s new security feature. It combines both Iris scanning feature and the Face unlocking feature. The Intelligent Scan technology will make use of different situations, i.e. the phone will use Iris scanner for apps that need robust security, including banking apps and Samsung Pay. And for normal purpose and unlocking, the phone will make use of its facial unlocking feature.
As for the internals, the Nepali variant of Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus is befitted with the Exynos 9810 chipset. The Samsung Galaxy S9 has 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage, whilst the Galaxy S9 Plus comes with 6GB of RAM and a similar amount of storage. Amid, the difference in the amount of RAM, both phones has a microSD card slot.
Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus Price in Nepal, Availability, and Offers
Let’s talk about the business here. The Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus’ official price tends to be Rs. 92,900 and Rs. 104,990 respectively in Nepal. However, there’s an instant cashback of Rs. 5,000 on every purchase which makes the price of Galaxy S9 Rs. 87,900 and the S9 Plus Rs. 99,900.
If you think the prices are on a heavier side, you can opt-in for EMI plans from banks like Nabil Bank, Global IME, Nepal Investment, Laxmi Bank, MegaBank and Kumari Bank.
There’s more from Samsung. Users purchasing the phone are assured to get 12,000MB Ncell data for 12 weeks (1000MB for per week) and a 1-year breakage insurance from Shikhar Insurance.
Samsung Galaxy S9 Specs Highlight
- Display: 5.8-inch Super AMOLED Infinity, 2,960 x 1440 pixel resolution, 570ppi, HDR 10 support.
- Rear camera: 12MP, f/1.5 and f/2.4 aperture, dual pixel phase detection autofocus, OIS.
- Front camera: 8MP, f/1.7 aperture, autofocus
- OS: Android 8.0 Oreo; Samsung Grace UX
- Chipset: Exynos 9810: octa-core CPU (4 x 2.8 GHz 3rd-gen Mongoose + 4 x 1.7GHz Cortex-A55)
- GPU: Mali-G72 MP18 GPU.
- Memory: 4GB of DDR4 RAM; 64GB of storage; microSD card support up to 256GB.
- Battery: 3,000mAh Li-Po battery; Adaptive Fast Charge.
- Samsung Galaxy S9 Official Price in Nepal: Rs. 92,900
- Cashback price: Rs. 87,900
Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus Specs Highlight
- Display: 6.2-inch Super AMOLED Infinity, 2,960 x 1440 pixel resolution, 529ppi, HDR 10 support.
- Rear cameras: Dual 12MP (f/1.5 aperture and f/2.4 aperture, 26mm, 1/2.55″, 1.4 µm, Dual Pixel PDAF + 12MP, f/2.4, 52mm, 1/3.6″, 1 µm, AF, 2x optical zoom, OIS, phase detection autofocus, LED flash
- Front camera: 8MP, f/1.7 aperture, autofocus
- OS: Android 8.0 Oreo; Samsung Grace UX
- Chipset: Exynos 9810: octa-core CPU (4 x 2.8 GHz 3rd-gen Mongoose + 4 x 1.7GHz Cortex-A55)
- GPU: Mali-G72 MP18 GPU.
- Memory: 6GB of DDR4 RAM; 64GB of storage; microSD card support up to 256GB.
- Battery: 3,500mAh Li-Po battery; Adaptive Fast Charge.
- Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus Official Price in Nepal: Rs. 104,990.
- Cashback price: Rs. 99,900
